Mercy Sister Margaret Wright, 81, died Oct. 16.

Born in Chicago, she entered the Sisters of Mercy after graduating from St. Patrick High School, Des Plaines.

She graduated from Creighton University School of Pharmacy in Omaha, Nebraska and became a pharmacist in 1962. She served at Mercy Hospitals in Chicago and Aurora, Illinois, for many years. During that time, she served on the Illinois State Board of Pharmacy for 17 years, including 13 years as chairwoman.

She was the first woman and the first from a hospital setting to be named Pharmacist of the Year in 1980 by the Illinois Pharmacists Association, and in 1995, Sister Margaret was introduced as “the conscience of pharmacy in Illinois” when she was named an honorary lifetime member to the Illinois Council of Hospital Pharmacists.